THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CLICKERS: A REVIEW OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS, 2010-2012

The purpose of this presentation is to report the review of doctoral dissertations on clickers, 2010-2012. A search in the ProQuest Dissertation database found 21 dissertations of which 20 were analyzed. All except 4 dissertations were experimental studies. Content areas included math, science, psychology, and professional development. An exception was the study on the relationship with clickers and metacognition (Manke-Brady, 2012). Mostly the studies focused on comparing the effectiveness of clickers with some other devices in such areas as academic gains, engagement and attention. Two of the studies were on the use of clickers in inclusive and non-inclusive settings (Hayes, 2012) and use of students with behavioral disorders (Hott, 2012). Clicker studies with students with disabilities are rare.The findings that participants who “experienced enhanced learning outcomes with clickers were the participants who had low to average performance outcomes as compared to participants who tended to have higher performance outcomes,” and participants who had “higher outcomes experienced the least benefits and may have had consistent performance outcomes regardless of the response device in use” (Manke-Brady, 2012). Overall findings included the use of clickers had moderate effectiveness in the learning and teaching process and liability of clickers of the participants was very strong regardless of the results of the studies. One thing notable was that the application of clickers by students with disabilities was increasing. The implication of the findings will be discussed in light of previous reviews. Perhaps more studies should be carried out in the larger context, including characteristics of participants (e.g., high performer and low performers; disabilities and non-disabilities), specific conditions under which the teaching and learning process is facilitated and enhanced (e.g., facilitators; circumstances; specific content areas—it is because that usually content determines teaching methods).